300 
PR7ECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLrE. 
In Pennsylvania the eggs are hatched out early in June ; and there, as elsewhere, 
only a single brood is raised in one season. The nest is always placed in an open 
situation ; but, notwithstanding this circumstance, it is not easily found without the 
aid of a good dog trained for the purpose. In 1843, in company with my friend Baird, 
I searched in vain in an open ploughed held for the nest of a pair we knew must be 
near. Its site was not found until after the young had gone — only a few days 
after our first search — the empty egg-shells showing where in the open held it was. 
The female must have kept closely to the nest, even when we were near her, while 
her mate was doing his best to delude us. The young are singularly beautiful little 
balls of soft down, a mottling of white, brown, and black. They are cared for by 
their parents until nearly grown, and from the shell instinctively hide themselves at 
the approach of danger. 
The eggs of this species — always four in number — vary in length from 1.79 
to 1.86 inches, and in breadth from 1.35 to 1.44 inches. Their ground-color is 
usually a deep pinkish drab, and over this are distributed small roundish spottings 
of a burnt-sienna tint. These are rather sparsely scattered over the smaller end of 
the egg, but become more densely aggregated about the larger portion. In others 
the ground-color is more of a cream-colored drab, without any perceptible shading 
of pink. In a few the ground is a pale pearly-white color, with a faint shading 
of cream-color. In these the markings are usually blotches of various shades of 
a purplish slate, much scattered, and overlain by spottings of a deep sepia, which 
become confluent at the greater end. The shape of the eggs is a slightly rounded 
oval, strongly tapering at one end and rounded at the other ; their number is uni- 
formly four. 
G-enus TRINGOIDES, Bonaparte. 
Tringoides, Bonap. Saggio cli una dist. etc. 1831, 58 (type, Tringa hypoleucos, Linn.). 
Actitis, Boie, Isis, 1822, 560. Not of Illiger, Prodromus, 1811. 
Char. Upper mandible grooved to the terminal fourth ; the bill tapering and rather acute. 
Cleft of mouth only moderate ; the culnien about five sixths the commissure. Feathers extend- 
T. macularius. 
ing rather farther on side of lower jaw than upper, the former reaching as far as the beginning of 
the nostrils; those of the chin to about their middle. Bill shorter than the head, straight, equal 
to the tarsus, which is of the length of middle toe and claw. Bare part of tibia half the tarsus. 
Outer toe webbed to first joint ; inner cleft nearly or cpiite to the base. Tail much rounded, more 
than half the wing. 
